Senior Investment Manager, Outcome and Blended Finance, Restoration

Program Management Worldwide

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This is a hybrid position which requires 8 days/month in the office. You can be based in our office in Washington DC, London or The Hague. Existing work authorization is required at the time of application submission as WRI is unable to sponsor any visa work sponsorship for this position. To be eligible for this position in US, you must be a resident of DC, Maryland or Virginia at the start of employment.

 

About the Program:

 

WRI’s Global Restoration Initiative informs, enables, and invests in people that restore degraded land. The team’s flagship investment program for locally led enterprises and community non-profits, TerraFund, currently finances, trains, and monitors 200+ growing organizations across Africa, Latin America, and South Asia.
Aligned with this broader vision, the Restore Local initiative supports locally led restoration efforts – with a growing portfolio of 60+ million USD of projects in selected priority landscapes in Africa, Brazil and India. Built through the TerraMatch platform, this includes grant-funded projects, as well as debt and equity investments in small and enterprises and first loss investment tranches in blended investment funds.
In the next phase of our strategy, WRI’s Restoration team aims to harness technology innovations built with our partners and the growing network of locally led restoration implementers financed through its TerraFund. It is developing replicable finance structures and partnerships that crowd more public and private capital into restoration that delivers proven outcomes for people, nature and climate.
Reliable and cost-effective technology innovations can increasingly predict, pre-finance, monitor and validate the land restoration outcomes related to increased tree cover and carbon storage, as well as social and environmental indicators, such as reduced sedimentation in water bodies. WRI’s Restoration team is pioneering a number of innovative outcome finance partnerships to channel more funding into land restoration – and make land restoration more investable.
In addition, small and medium enterprises in restorative value chains must attract enough capital to invest in processing & warehousing facilities and expand their markets to buy from local communities and smallholder farmer who grow diverse trees on their land. TerraFund’s initial investments in these leaders are enabling other capital providers and impact investors to come in.
As part of its ambition to develop replicable outcome-based finance structures and partnerships for durable and equitable land restoration, WRI seeks to hire a Senior Investment Manager for Outcome and Blended Finance.

 

Job Highlight:

 

You will play a leading and critical role in pioneering the design, capitalization and rollout of land restoration financing mechanisms that mobilize private capital, including outcome-based finance partnerships and blended finance vehicles for providing debt and equity.
As subject matter expert, you will interface with executives, implementors, and investors, building business cases and supporting the design and development of financing structures and mechanisms that enable outcome-based finance and blended finance. You will also help to raise private funds in addition to public and philanthropic capital.
Working with an experienced team of project managers, monitoring, communication, and government engagement experts, and external partners, you will pro-actively work with country and landscape programs to identify and scope opportunities to design and broker transactions for high-potential restoration projects led by local implementers.
You will report to the Director, Restoration Finance, based in the United States. You will work closely with the team’s Senior Portfolio Manager, as well as with investment and outcome finance colleagues in Africa and Brazil.

 

What will you do:

 

Finance and Program Management (70%):

 

  • Working closely with the Senior Portfolio Manager of TerraFund and Investor Coalition Managers in Africa and Brazil, co-develop and manage partnerships with blended investment funds
  • Build an overview of potential business cases and opportunities for outcome payments in Africa, working closely with the team’s Engagement Manager, the Investor Coalition Managers, Landscape Managers, and WRI Invest, Monitor and Enable teams
  • Scope the viability and feasibility of outcome-based finance structures to scale up restoration, based on the existing portfolio of 200+ TerraFund projects restoring land
  • Lead on financial and economic analysis and assessing potential viability of projects, working with investors, government partners, potential outcome payers, and implementation and data partners
  • Scope and build partnerships for outcome finance with blended finance investors, project developers and other stakeholders already present in the landscape and beyond, with a focus on developing shared metrics, financing structures, and business cases
  • Drive processes to secure outcome purchases and raise investment funds, with an emphasis on private finance but also supporting related public and philanthropic fundraising for blending purposes
  • Co-lead the development of blended financing structures and contracts for outcome finance, including carbon finance

 

Coordination and Strategy (30%):

 

  • Provide recommendations on capacity development needs for TerraFund projects, preparing projects developers to access outcome markets and improving investment readiness
  • Liaise with the Restoration monitoring team to understand the viability of various outcomes to be monitored and measured at scale
  • Support strategy development, partnership growth, and fundraising proposals (presentations, narratives, budgets) for TerraFund and the Restoration team more widely
  • Inform strategic decisions about how to engage in markets for various restoration outcomes, e.g., carbon, biodiversity, water
  • Liaise with WRI staff and project stakeholders to solve project implementation issues
  • Demonstrate thought leadership and share insights and lessons internally and externally

 

What will you need:

 

  • Education: You have a completed a bachelor’s degree in finance, public policy, economics, environmental management, or a similar area. Relevant work experience in lieu of degree is accepted
  • Experience: You have a minimum of 10 years of full-time relevant experience in finance and economics for infrastructure conservation, nature-based solutions and/or climate change resilience
  • Demonstrated experience in investment project preparation and appraisal
  • Demonstrated experience in engaging stakeholders from multiple backgrounds and with diverse interests, e.g., government, NGOs, private sector
  • Experience communicating technical concepts to non-technical audiences
  • Experience with outcome-based financing mechanisms or nature-related credits desirable
  • You are willing and able to travel regionally and internationally on a regular basis
  • Languages: Proficient in spoken and written English. Portuguese and/or French skills are desirable 
  • Requirements: Existing work authorization is required where this position is based. WRI is unable to authorize visa work authorization

 

Potential Salary: US salary range is between 116,000 and 139,000 USD. UK: 65K – 82K GBP. NL: 80K – 101K EUR. Salary is commensurate with experience and other compensable factors. WRI offers a competitive renumeration and benefits package.

 

How to Apply: Please submit a resume with a required cover letter by the date of January 17, 2025. We may close for applications sooner if we receive a high volume of qualified applications.

 

We are unable to consider your application without a cover letter.

 

You must apply through the WRI Careers portal to be considered.

 

What we offer:

 

  • Access to the WRI global network with the opportunity to exchange with and learn from passionate colleagues working at the cutting edge of their fields across Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and the US
  • The chance to have an impact and to develop your career within a mission driven organization with access to varied learning and training opportunities. 
  • A workplace that strives to put diversity and inclusion at the heart of our work
  • The opportunity to join and get involved in different working groups and affinity groups to shape the future of WRI
  • Commitment to hybrid working model with flexible working hours
  • Generous leave days that increase with tenure
  • For US Position: Medical Coverage, Dental Coverage, Vision Coverage, retirement plan access and employer contribution

 

About Us:

 

Founded in 1982, World Resources Institute (WRI) is an independent, nonprofit global research organization that turns big ideas into action at the nexus of environment, economic opportunity, and human well-being. We are working to address seven critical challenges that the world must overcome this decade to secure a sustainable future for people and the planet: climate change, energy, food, forests, water, sustainable cities, and the ocean. WRI has a global staff of over 1,800 people with work spanning 60 countries. We have offices in Africa, Brazil, China, Europe, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Colombia and the United States, as well as a growing presence in other countries and regions.

 

The foundation of our work is delivering high-quality research, data, maps, and analysis to solve the world’s greatest environment and international development challenges and improve people’s lives. We work with leaders in government, business, and civil society to drive ambitious action and create change on the ground. Equally important, we bring together partners to develop breakthrough ideas and scale-up solutions for far-reaching, enduring impact.

 

Our mission and values:

 

WRI’s mission is to move human society to live in ways that protect Earth’s environment and its capacity to provide for the needs and aspirations of current and future generations.

 

Our values are shared ideals that bind us together: Integrity, Innovation, Urgency, Independence and Respect.

 

Our culture:

WRI is committed to advancing gender and social equity for human well-being in our mission and applies this principle to our organizational and programmatic practices. We are committed to providing equal opportunities in employment; we embrace all diversity and encourage women, the LGBTQ+ community, persons with disabilities, Afro-descendants, and Indigenous people to apply. Recognizing our strong commitment to gender equality, WRI has also been awarded EDGE certification.

 

Our team in Human Resources carefully reviews all applications.

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